If you want to surprise the guests of your home with wealth lying right under your feet, you can do this with ordinary coins. Recently, it has become fashionable to spread the floor with them. The lesson is quite simple, but painstaking.
If you have accumulated a lot of cents on the mezzanines, you can lay out any surface with them. When they are not enough, you can ask your acquaintances and friends for a trifle that has gone out of circulation. Quite often, people keep it at home, explaining that it is a pity to throw it away.
If these two options are not suitable for you, then coins can be found for little money at different auctions. The result is an incredibly beautiful floor that will be different originality. Some property owners believe that such an interior decoration allows you to fill the house with a special "money aura".
The algorithm of work
If you decide to lay out the floor of the coins with your own hands, it is better to consider the photo of the result carefully. This will help to understand how the surface looks in the end.
The process goes in several stages. At first you need to prepare the surface and calculate the right amount of material. The next step will be the search for coins and their preparation for work. The main step is laying money and further fixing the flooring.
Surface preparation and coin counting
A rather important stage of laying is the preparation of the surface. The room is freed from furniture, the old cover is dismantled. Coins are usually stacked on a concrete screed. Roughnesses and irregularities can be smoothed out by filling the gap with it.
The surface is cleaned of dirt, debris and dust, degreased with detergents. The base is left until completely dry. In the meantime, you can begin to count the little things. Pennies should be laid out in a checkerboard pattern, but first you need to determine how much is needed to cover the entire surface. In order to understand how much material is required, it is necessary to take a cardboard sheet of square shape with a side of 100 cm. It is laid on a flat surface and coins are laid out on it. Each penny is encircled with a pencil so that the rows do not stray.
On the completed sheet will be a certain number of coins, the number of which you have to calculate. It will be a little more difficult to work if you plan to use money that have different sizes. Some home craftsmen use a chaotic layout. The prepared floor is measured, its area is calculated. The number of square meters must be multiplied by the number of coins in one square.
More about preparing the subfloor: waterproofing and reinforcement
Before laying the floor out of coins, prepare the surface well. When the apartment is not on the ground floor, it is recommended to supplement the base with a layer of waterproofing. For this, you can use roofing material. To increase the adhesion of the solution to the slab, a universal primer can be used. It is dried for 4 hours. If the floor surface absorbs moisture well, then the application of the primer should be carried out in two layers, otherwise it may adversely affect the final result.
The floor lined with coins will last longer if you properly prepare the base. As a waterproofing layer, you can also use a floating concrete screed. For this, ordinary plastic film is used. As a reinforcement for the screed, a road mesh with square cells with sides of 100 x 100 mm or 150 x 150 mm acts. The recommended diameter of the rods is 5 mm.
Features of pouring mortar for leveling
If it is necessary to fill a multi-level screed in one room, ensure a difference in height with the help of formwork made of plywood. In the highest place on the floor, the screed layer should be more than 2 cm. If you reduce this figure, the material will crack, and if you increase it to 8 cm or more, you will get an unreasonably large load on the floor or foundation.
Before laying the floor of coins, we recommend that you level the surface. As a solution, it is best to use concrete grade M-300 or higher. You can complement the decorative coating with warm floors. The minimum thickness of the screed over them should be at least 3 cm. This is necessary to ensure strength and even distribution of heat.
Before you make a floor out of coins with your own hands, you can lay the screed in semi-dry technology. At the same time, water is used 3 times less. When mixing cement, water will almost not play a role, so you should not worry about the quality of the screed.
Preparation of material for work and its laying
Before the repair, many property owners are wondering how to make floors from coins. If you, too, were among them and have already decided on the amount of material, then after searching it is necessary to wash the small thing, clean it and dry it so that the floor sparkles. To do this, it is convenient to use toothpaste and soap. The latter is the most versatile and less aggressive means. You can use a cleaner for silver coins.
The whole family can be involved in laying the floor with coins with your own hands. In the process, it is important not to get carried away and carefully monitor the quality of the work performed. It is recommended to act from the center of the room to the edges. Adhesive is pre-applied to the surface. You can use fiberglass, on which coins coated with glue on one side are stacked.
If you decide to use fiberglass, mount the floor in separate squares, from which you need to remove the protective film before laying. It is necessary to act in this case from the wall, which is farthest from the front door.
Coating fastening
If you want to lay out a floor of coins, photos from our article will help you to be inspired and decide on an ornament. Moreover, you will understand how to act and which side to start from. After the base of the floor is completely covered, it is poured with adhesive solution, which will securely fix the fragile structure.
Once the composition has dried, you can mix the epoxy sealant with the UV blocker and apply the mixture to the surface. It will fill all the gaps between coins and fiberglass. Until completely dry, it is strictly forbidden to walk on the floor. It can take up to three days to dry completely.
Using the technology of decorative bulk floors
It is possible to paint the floors laid with pennies with the help of 3D technology. Such compositions are suitable for filling any items in the base. Instead of coins, you can use shells, stones and other elements. You can combine them with pebbles and sand. This approach allows you to reduce the amount of little things used, and the installation process will become much simpler.
If you use the method of bulk floors, then fixing the coins is not required - they will be filled with a transparent and durable polymer composition. If you want to lay out a floor of coins in this way, then the base is carefully prepared. The floor is leveled, degreased, the surface is coated with a primer. It is best to use "Concrete Contact", which contributes to a good adhesion of the material to concrete.
Layer application and bubble release
The next step will be the application of the main layer, which is coated with a transparent polymer mixture. It can be made independently by mixing the composition with a drill with a special nozzle.
Having laid the floor out of coins and filled it with a transparent bulk coating, you will need to treat the base with an aeration needle roller, which will help eliminate the bubbles formed inside. It will take about half an hour to thoroughly remove them. Then the surface is covered with foil or film, which will provide the layer with the necessary strength. When the polymerization process is completed, apply a protective varnish.
Tip
Agree, a real decoration of the interior can be a floor laid out of coins. If you want to achieve a positive result, then it is better to use fiberglass mesh as the basis for installation. It will simplify the process and allow the whole family to be involved in the work. This approach eliminates the offset of cents by negligence. Remember that at the first stage it will be important to prepare the surface, making it perfectly smooth. Otherwise, even the smallest errors will be noticeable.
Finally
If the coins were not enough, then they can be used to make decor, which can decorate the room. For example, you can lay out the original panel on the wall or decorate the countertop with coins.